Daily Vent Submitted By: Old Time Farm Boy

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” is the first part of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. There are those who say that these words create a wall of separation between church and state, but do they?

The first part says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. For centuries, Great Britain has had an official state church (the Church of England) which is supported with taxpayer money, government officials use to have to be a member, and the Church of England still has to approve of whoever is chosen king or queen before they can be officially crowned. Together, from time to time, the church and state has tried to force everyone to join the Church of England by harassing and jailing anyone who refused. Our Founding Fathers did not want to follow Great Britain’s example and prohibited the federal government from establishing an official national religion.

The second part says that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Our Founding Fathers wanted to prevent the federal government from harassing people of different faiths and to prevent the federal government restricting or dictating how they practice their faith like Great Britain had done.

It is clear from reading the simple words of the First Amendment that it is placing restrictions on what the state can do regarding religion. In a sense, the First Amendment does create a wall of separation. It creates a wall of separation between the state and the power to create and control religion in the United States, not a wall of separation between state and church. That means people have the constitutionally guaranteed right to belong to the church of their choice and to practice their religion. Their constitutionally guaranteed right does not end just because they stepped onto or into public property or work for a public entity.

This fact requires that the question be asked, why do the “Separationist” insist that church and state be kept separate, or that no hint of religion be allowed to be seen or heard in public places? The answer is that they are Humanists (an officially recognized religion). To paraphrase the early 20th century definition of a Humanist (not the modern, politically correct definition): a Humanist is someone who does not believe in spiritual or divine being(s) capable of creating or influencing the formation of the universe. That everything is the result of random natural events. And, since humans are the only known intelligence in the universe, they are the final judge of morality. Basically, the Humanists believe that humans are the closest thing to gods in the universe, the Theory of Evolution is their bible, politics is their religion, and the government is their church. Humanist are tired of watching Christians desecrating their holy places and to rectify the situat ion they have created the idea of separation of church and state and are trying to eliminate Christianity from public places if not eliminate it altogether.

The best examples are the stories about our schools. The lawsuits filed to eliminate all references to God or to stop prayers during school activities. Students arrested and jailed for praying around the school flag pole before school starts. Schools forbidding the wearing of Christian symbols or possessing a bible on school property. And the schools harassment of students who write about biblical figures or draw pictures with biblical themes.

It is clear that the goal of “Separationist” is not to separate church and state but to combine church and state; to create a Humanist theocracy. And all it will take for them to succeed is for Christians to be “reasonable”, keep their religion private, and stand by and do nothing out of fear they might offend a non-believer by the free exercise of their religion.